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BMW i electric cars and Greenlots expanding electric transportation in Singapore

BMW Group Asia is working with Greenlots to bring BMW i electric cars and to expand open standards-based technology to Singapore. BMW’s 360º ELECTRIC program is being combined with Greenlots technology solutions to support Singapore’s first home and public charging network and the country’s burgeoning electric vehicle (EV) adoption. The network is based on the Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP), the global standard for open charger-to-network communications.

BMW’s 360º ELECTRIC program is based on four key pillars that will come standard with the purchase of every BMW i3 or i8 – home charging with the BMW i Wallbox Pure and a basic installation package for the 230 volt wallbox; public charging through BMW i’s ChargeNow that provides BMW i drivers with access to a network of public charging stations located in office buildings, shopping malls, hotels, industrial parks, and buildings in Singapore; customized flexible mobility solutions that cater to occasional long-distance trips outside the city by using the BMW 320i sedan for up to five days during the first year after purchasing a BMW i vehicle; and assistance services offering various solutions to ensure confidence in driving an EV including BMW ConnectedDrive, BMW i Remote App, and BMW Roadside Assistance.

Greenlot’s open standards-based SKY Smart Charging platform will administer ChargeNow, BMW i’s public charging program, in Singapore. That will enable local BMW i customers to access its expansive network of AC charging units by using the BMW ChargeNow card and Greenlots mobile app. Drivers will be give real-time information on the availability and location of these stations.

Greenlots has had a presence in the Singapore market since 2009, says Lin Khoo, senior vice president of Greenlots. The company began working with Bosch on a government-funded infrastructure in 2010 on installations and maintenance. The alliance with BMW assists the automaker in bringing its i3 and i8 luxury electric cars to the market and supports Greenlots in expanding the open-standards charging infrastructure to houses and to shopping malls, universities, workplaces, and other public charging locations, Khoo said.

Greenlots’ global reputation and past experience working together is how BMW chose the open standards-based technology company, said Brett Hauser, CEO of Greenlots. Open standards have been gaining more support in the past few years from several automakers and other stakeholders in electrified transportation, he said.

Hauser said that one example of this support came through the Multi-State ZEV Action Plan recently adopted by California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont. One action adopted in the plan is to promote access, compatibility, and interoperability of the EV charging network. This ensures that EV drivers have the information and freedom to use any public charging station by allowing common forms of payment, not requiring subscription or membership status, encouraging open-source protocols, and making fees transparent to customers.

This Week’s Top 10: Plug-In 2014 Conference downsizes to better serve its audience, Sales of plug-in electric vehicles were solid in July

by Jon LeSage, editor and publisher, Green Auto Market

Here’s my take on the 10 most significant and interesting occurrences during the past week…….

Smart grids, fast charging, and an open integration platform for electric vehicles were topics covered last week at Plug-In 2014 Conference in San Jose, Calif. Now in its seventh year, the annual plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) conference changed gears – there was no exhibit hall this year and a schedule with two simultaneous breakout speaker panel sessions instead of three. According to comments from attendees, it continued to be a much-needed resource for peer networking and staying current on what’s happening in the industry; the exhibit hall and extra speaker panels weren’t necessary and the conference has needed to be streamlined. During “The Last Word” panel on Wednesday afternoon, Tom Turrentine from the PH&EV Research Center, Institute of Transportation Studies, at UC Davis, talked about a study he’s been part of finding out the challenges auto dealers are going through in effectively educating customers on PEVs and charging. The other panelists, including Ed Kjaer, director, transportation electrification at Southern California Edison, and Chelsea Sexton, founder, Lightning Rod Foundation, agreed with Turrentine that education of dealers and car shoppers is still very much needed. Looking at real data from PEV driver experience over the past three-and-a-half years is another resource to tap into; along with key stakeholders (utilities, automakers, and infrastructure suppliers) setting aside technology disputes and supporting the larger movement toward electrified transportation, should be high priority, Kjaer and Sexton said. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), which organizes the conference, announced an alliance with utilities and automakers to develop and demonstrate an open platform to integrate PEVs with smart grid technologies. The platform will offers customer-friendly interface where PEV drivers can more easily participate in utility PEV programs, such as rates for off-peak or nighttime charging. With more than 225,000 plug-in vehicles on US roads, these vehicles will also play a significant role as a distributed energy resource to support grid reliability, stability, and efficiency. Honda, BMW, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, and Toyota have joined together with major utilities and regional transmission organizations. During another announcement at Plug-In 2014, NRG eVgo, a subsidiary of NRG Energy, Inc., said that its partnering with BMW on its new ChargeNow DC Fast program. Now, BMW i3 drivers in California can enjoy unlimited, no cost 30 minute DC fast charging, at eVgo Freedom Station® sites equipped with DC Combo Fast Charging, through 2015.

Sales of plug-in electric vehicles were solid in July. There were 3,117 Nissan Leafs sold – 62% more than July 2013. Nissan thinks that its No Charge to Charge promotion worked well. The Chevy Volt saw its best sales month since December, with 2,020 units sold. Tesla Motors reported building 8,763 Model S units in the second quarter and delivered 7,579 of them to customers. The company expects to deliver 7,800 of them this quarter. Tesla reported second quarter revenues of $858 million, up 55% from a year ago; and the automaker saw gross margins rise to a record 26.8%.
The California Energy Commission approved about $60 million for hydrogen fueling, battery electric vehicle and plug-in hybrid projects. About $8.1 million also has been allocated for electric vehicle placements and $4.3 million for natural gas vehicles.
The agreement on the “Gigafactory” between Tesla Motors and Panasonic Corp. has been confirmed. Panasonic, which currently supplies battery cells to Tesla, said it will manufacture and supply cylindrical lithium-ion cells and invest in the equipment, machinery and other tools based on the two companies mutual approval. Tesla role will be to prepare, provide and manage the land, buildings, and utilities. The dollar amount Panasonic has agreed to invest hasn’t been revealed.
Toyota Motor Corp. has a name for its $69,000 fuel cell vehicle: Mirai. That’s a Japanese word for “the future,” according to a person familiar with the decision. The US version has been called the FCV, and the car is expected to go on sale in the fall of 2015.
The 2014 Chevy Volt with the optional Forward Collision Alert system was the only one out of 12 cars tested to earn the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s 2014 Top Safety Pick award. The plug-in hybrid also received an acceptable overall score in IIHS’ small overlap front crash test. The small overlap front crash test simulates a frontal collision that impacts the driver’s side corner at 40 mph. Other cars tested included the Nissan Juke, Mini Cooper Countryman, and the Ford C-Max Hybrid.
“The Musk Who Fell to Earth” will be an upcoming episode on an upcoming episode in the 26^th season of “The Simpsons.” This will be Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s second appearance on the show, though the first time that he’ll speak. During the episode, Mr. Burns, an iconic series character and billionaire nuclear energy tycoon, loses all of his money to Musk.
The US Commerce Department is increasing penalties on Chinese imports for dumping solar cells, panels, and other equipment into the US market at very low prices to grab market share. Duties could reach as high as 165% for some Chinese producers and 44% for manufacturers in Taiwan. The tariffs will become permanent if the department confirms its initial finding that the practices hurt the US solar industry.
The Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis is offering an online tool called EV Explorer helping car shoppers made a decision over the best choice for themselves – a plug-in electric vehicle, a hybrid, or a regular gasoline-engine vehicle. By entering a starting address and ending destination, EV Explorer offers a bar graph comparing the total annual energy costs of up to four vehicles simultaneously.
A new report from Research and Markets forecasts that the global biodiesel market will grow at a compound annual rate of 8.1% between 2013 and 2018. One prominent market drivers is expected to be the advantage of using biodiesel over diesel. For those seeking a clean source of energy, biodiesel offers reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprints.

Facing perplexed looks on what LeSage Consulting actually has to offer

While attending Plug-In 2014 Conference last week in San Jose, I learned something beyond the state of the charging infrastructure: how people perceive what I do. That usually came across as a perplexed look on a person’s face – during an interview, seated for lunch, or during a conversation while standing outside a seminar room. As I left San Jose McEnery Convention Center, I had the same question. What is it that LeSage Consulting offers?

I think some of the confusion deals with a perception gap between me playing a press/media role and a consulting role. In the past few years, people have known me through doing video interviews with Automotive Digest, phone interviews, sitting in on stakeholder conference calls, or chatting at a conference – while wearing my media badge. Several people congratulated me earlier this year after starting the consulting practice, and could see the logic behind it – industry expertise, market analysis, and the ability to pull it all together in content such as this weekly newsletter. For some of us, there is a crossover between the research and editorial sides. I spent a few years in market research/intel and have met a number of people who’ve been in media and now work in market research and analytics. Jobs have been changing for many of us in recent years. I think it’s my duty to keep Green Auto Market accurate and thorough – but it does come from my perspective on what’s taking place and worth paying attention to. That’s one of the more rewarding trends in the internet age for writers like me.

Since launching LeSage Consulting in January of this year, the game has changed for me. I’ve learned much more about where companies and organizations are heading in the next few years, and how my skillset and resources are perceived. I understand that for key stakeholders in automotive and transportation, it’s about much more than deciding what alternative fuel vehicle to build or buy. The landscape will be changing radically in the next 20 years, driven by growing concern over traffic congestion, emissions, safety, and what types of jobs will be available as the technology changes.

Clean transportation involves electric vehicles, hybrids, fuel cell, and other alternative fuel vehicles, and the charging and fueling infrastructure that drives it. There’s also the question of producing fuel-efficient vehicles that will meet federal mandates; and building them in environmentally sustainable factories. Advanced vehicle technology is the baseline, and is leading toward autonomous vehicles in the not-too-distant future. The theme of urban mobility is also another deciding factor, which several automakers are preparing for, in the context of carsharing and ridesharing, parking, and other aspects of making ground transportation work in a fast-changing, crowded world.

When I returned from Plug-In 2014, I revised my mission statement and service offering descriptions to get more clear about all of it, and to articulate that to colleagues. Here’s the latest…..

Mission Statement: LeSage Consulting creates content, marketing communications, and market intelligence serving stakeholders in clean transportation, advanced and autonomous vehicles, and urban mobility. Content channels include the Green Auto Market weekly e-newsletter and through an alliance with Automotive Digest.

How it works:

Content creation:

Feature articles
Newsletters
Websites and blogs
Webinars and speaking engagements
Video and audio
Green Auto Market and Green Auto Market Extended Edition
Information products including white papers, reports, and e-books

Marketing communications:

Promotional content such as coverage of company news, product launches, and special events
Social media placement
Multiple content channels including articles, newsletters, press releases, video, audio, and webinars
Direct marketing through postal and email
Public information and marketing campaigns
Green Auto Market and Extended Edition sponsorships and event promotions

Market intelligence:

Surveys
In-depth interviews with stakeholders
Analytical reports focusing on emerging trends, vehicle acquisitions, technology innovations, legislative and regulatory environment, and global markets
Consulting and research services to clients with sustainability targets
Industry metrics including hybrid and EV sales; alternative fuel prices; stock market performance for companies in clean transportation; US charging and fueling stations; and green vehicle specifications and incentives.

Thanks very much for the questions and perplexed looks. I realized that it had to start with me getting clear on my purpose. Some of the main reasons I chose clean, advanced transportation as my main focus in recent years has been passion for the topic; seeing its integration with environmental and economic issues; and facing big changes in the media landscape. I’ve truly enjoyed connecting with several of you during conversations on these topics. That’s driven me in starting and building LeSage Consulting – supporting people who are passionate and committed to their mission statements in clean, advanced transportation.

Car rental a new market for microGreen oil filter as fleets face cost and carbon challenges

Car rental companies, like other fleet operators, face two core challenges: cost containment and carbon reduction. As experienced by the automotive and transportation industries, taking a multi-tiered approach is required to hit those targets – involving more than the vehicle acquisition process. Abrams Consulting Group, Inc. (ACG), the leading specialized consulting and research firm serving the global vehicle rental and lease industries for over three decades, and SOMS Technologies LLC (SOMS), the manufacturer of the microGreen® Extended Performance Oil Filter, are working together to bring a vehicle maintenance solution to new market segments.

The two companies have announced a collaborative effort to introduce the microGreen filter into the car rental and fleet management industry sectors. The two-in-one filter design combines a high-quality full-flow filter with a patented microfilter system to maintain oil quality over time. The difference with traditional oil filters is huge – the microGreen oil filter program allows the vehicle owner to replace engine oil every 30,000 miles as compared to a more standard 3,000-7,000 miles, depending on normal practice and manufacturer guidelines. The filter fits most light- and medium-duty vehicles, and is installed and removed like a conventional oil filter.

Car rental companies stay on top of maintenance – their vehicles are extensively used and add mileage faster than other fleets. “The car rental industry is one where…. vehicle maintenance, including oil, filters, and labor, is a significant expense, and there is mounting pressure to improve the environmental profile and reduce the carbon footprint,” said Miles Flamenbaum, president of SOMS. The microGreen filter “can significantly reduce oil and filter maintenance costs while helping to protect the environment.”

Neil Abrams, ACG founder and president, has worked with car rental companies and suppliers on cost containment – and in more recent years on environmental sustainability goals. “Over our 32 year history, it has been extremely rare that ACG would work with a product manufacturer of a mundane, after-market replacement part such as an oil filter,” Abrams said. “However, after reviewing the success already achieved by the microGreen filter with tens of millions of miles of testing and hundreds of millions of miles of usage in commercial fleets, as well as undertaking an analysis of the benefits to be derived by rental and fleet operators, the value proposition was obvious and compelling. There are potential annual savings of 10s or 100s of thousands of dollars — millions of dollars in some cases — depending on the size of the fleet.”

SOMS has been working with fleets since 2009 – police departments, limos and taxis, school buses, carsharing, and telecommunications companies, among others. “The fleet manager is looking at rising costs in vehicle acquisition and maintenance,” Flamenbaum said. “When oil prices go up, that goes into engine oil. Fleets need to keep their costs down.”

Carbon credits are being looked at more carefully these days by fleets, Flamenbaum said. But for fleets, the microGreen filter offers a more direct approach – just like LED light bulbs offer with energy efficiency. “They look at low-hanging fruit,” he said. “It’s a small piece of the puzzle, but an easy part, based on efficiency.”

This Week’s Top 10: The mystery of Tesla’s Gigafactory may be unfolding, Wanxiang Group announces a second Fisker model

by Jon LeSage, editor and publisher, Green Auto Market

Here’s my take on the 10 most significant and interesting occurrences during the past week…….

More details revealed on Gigafactory – Was it Col. Mustard with a dagger in the billiard room? The mystery of the Tesla “Gigafactory” is beginning to be solved. Panasonic Corp. has reached a basic agreement with Tesla Motors to supply machinery to make lithium battery cells; and an investment of about 20 billion yen to 30 billion yen ($196.4 million to $294.7 million) initially, according to the Nikkei newspaper. Details are being worked out, with an official announcement expected by the end of this month. In May, Panasonic said it wanted to be the sole battery partner in this factory. Analysts expect the factory to need about $5 billion to get up to speed, and that Panasonic may put in $1 billion of it. And while Tesla has officially looked at three sites in the US to build the plants, the decision might have already happened. Greentech Media reported that the world’s largest lithium-ion battery factory will be built near Reno, Nev. One unnamed source took pictures of about 50 earthmovers clearing a site estimated to be large enough to house the proposed 10 million-square-foot Gigafactory. This source has also heard whispers about the secret project from construction industry folks and locals. There are still permitting and licensing issues to be worked out, and Tesla says it’s potentially the site of a pizza factory…… We shall see……….
Fisker’s new owner announced second model – Fisker Automotive may launch its second model in 2017, though no details have yet been released. Lu Guanqiu, the billionaire chairman and founder of Fisker’s owner, Wanxiang Group, Inc., thinks that this can happen in the next three years with the Karma luxury sports car returning to market well before then. The Karma will be built once again in Finland, and Wanxiang hopes to bring production to the US.
Los Angeles will be added to Nissan’s “No Charge to Charge” promotional campaign on Aug. 15 for its Leaf electric vehicle charging program. Leaf drivers get an EZ-Charge card for public charging stations for two years. The program was launched in Dallas-Ft. Worth and Houston in Sept. 2013; since then, it’s been expanded to San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, Nashville, Phoenix, Washington, Portland, Ore.; and Sacramento, Calif. Nissan plans to add 14 more markets in the next year.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is late on creating rules governing electric vehicles (EVs) making noises to warn pedestrians as EVs pass by, and automakers say they’ll need more time to adopt the rules to vehicles. That rule was supposed to be released in January, so automakers are urging a delay in the schedule that requires them to start phasing it until 2016. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and Association of Global Automakers jointly issued a letter asking NHTSA to postpone full compliance until Sept. 1, 2018.
General Motors Opel subsidiary won’t be offering the Ampera (the European version of the Chevy Volt) after the Volt is redesigned for the US market for the 2016 model year. Opel will launch its own successor, an electric vehicle, sometime between 2014 and 2018.
Samsung isn’t just rolling out new Android smartphones – the South Korean technology supplier has expanded its partnership with BMW to produce lithium-ion battery cells for the BMW i3, BMW i8, and additional hybrid models that will come out later. That partnership started in 2009 and now Samsung has agreed to enhance developments of its battery cells.
Natural gas vehicle supporters were unable to gain necessary support for a diesel gallon equivalent that would govern the sale and pricing of natural gas for heavy duty vehicles. NGVAmerica says that they were unable to get the votes necessary to move it forward at the National Conference on Weights and Measures in Detroit. The gasoline gallon equivalent was adopted in 1994, but the industry needs the diesel equivalent standard for realistic comparisons.
Renewable energy saw more gains in the first half of 2014. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Office of Energy Projects reported that wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, and hydropower made up 55.7% of newly installed electricity generating capacity in the first half of this year. Natural gas provided most of the balance of new generating capacity.
Stop-start technology yields a 5% to 7% improvement in fuel economy and C02 reduction, according to a AAA study. The AAA tested three vehicles equipped with automatic stop-start systems using the US Environmental Protection Agency’s “urban” driving cycle.
Nissan has been able to save $938,000 per year at its Smyrna, Tenn., plant using the US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Superior Energy Performance program. Savings at the plant that assembles the Leaf and other Nissan vehicles comes through using the ISO 50001 energy management standard. Nissan made changes at its plant such as rescheduling work shifts, reducing motor spends in industrial hardware, and improving startup and shutdown procedures. The $331,000 investment was paid back in four months and led to annual savings; it was much less capital intensive than buying new hardware or doing expensive retrofits, according to the DOE.

Autonomous Car Symposium voiced perspectives from key players in advanced vehicle technologies

(Editor’s note: Stay tuned for an upcoming white paper from Green Auto Market: Hands off the Steering Wheel, The state of autonomous vehicle testing, regulations, and its next phase.)

A panel presentation held Saturday at Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles represented what I consider to be three of the pillars required for advanced vehicle technologies to succeed – commitment from engineering, automakers, and government policymakers and regulators. “Autonomous Car Symposium” featured Richard Mason, a senior engineer at the RAND Corp. who led the Golem Group garage team in building three test vehicles for the DARPA Grand Challenge for Autonomous Ground Vehicles. Jason Schulz, partnership manager for Toyota’s 21st Century Business Partnerships group, leads a team to research, identify, and leverage new technologies and partner companies. Bernard Soriano, deputy director at California Department of Motor Vehicles, is in charge of the department’s autonomous vehicles program.

The three panelists discussed where autonomous vehicles stand, and how these three pillars view what’s coming up on the landscape. Autonomous, driverless vehicles have been witnessing an onslaught of attention and debate in the past two months, with Google announcing that it may very well build its own driverless cars; and for the next two years will be testing its self-driving pods. A study was released this month by IEEE based on a survey of more than 200 engineers, researchers, and academicians; they believe 2030 to 2035 is a more realistic timetable for when autonomous vehicles will see the light of day. The Association for Unmanned Vehicles Systems International and the Transportation Research Board hosted the Automated Vehicles Symposium 2014 in San Francisco this month. Continental and Bosch were two of the conference sponsors; these major suppliers have been playing a prominent role in testing and developing autonomous vehicle technologies. Nissan added to the autonomous vehicle dialogue with a more detailed description of what the automaker will be rolling out in the next few years.

Mason has been part of seeing autonomous vehicles evolve from a student robotics project to becoming something very similar to what Google has been testing in recent years with its driverless Prius fleet. The 2003 Off-Road Robot Rally didn’t produce much; the Golum Group only made it five miles on the desert road test in its pickup truck; Carnegie Mellon University, which continues to play a leading role in testing these vehicles, had the best results at seven miles on that trip. Things got better in 2005, where the Golum team had a video camera onboard its Ram pickup and was able to practice obstacle avoidance, and reached the top speed in that year’s competition of 47 miles per hour. The truck eventually lost its memory and ran off the road. In 2007, the Golum team raced a much more capable vehicle – a converted Prius — which offered a look at the self-driving car of the future, Mason said.

Schulz gave voice to a perspective expressed by several automakers – autonomous vehicles are part of the overall role-changing identity taking place in the auto industry. For Schulz, autonomous vehicles represent a major shift for vehicles and automakers, but they’re not the only thing. His presentation discussed Toyota’s role in hybrid systems and alternative fuels, specifically the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle that Toyota is rolling out a year from now. Schulz talked about Toyota’s Advanced Active Safety Research Vehicle (AASRV) being test driven near the Toyota Research Institute in Ann Arbor, Mich. Toyota has been participating in a huge research vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) study with other automakers involving about 9,000 vehicles and organized by the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He also mentioned the Driver Awareness Research Vehicle (DARV) introduced last year at the LA Auto Show. These studies tie into Toyota’s mission of making contributions to vehicle safety, mobile applications, and advanced technologies, Schulz said.

Soriano described the challenges that California faces overall in transportation – 32 million vehicles registered in the state and 323 billion vehicle miles driven per year. The nation has been seeing about 32,000 fatalities in vehicle collisions each year; and traffic congestion and wasted fuel consumption are factors influencing interest in autonomous vehicles. The state government has been receiving input from residents on their opinions on autonomous vehicles; the top concerns have been liability and “driver” definition – how will the driver be defined for responsibility in the event of a crash and how does the DMV determine who would be assigned with violating state vehicle codes; privacy issues – who owns the data and how is it used; and cyber security, Soriano said.

Soriano has been part of legislation taking shape and being adopted by regulatory agencies in California. He sits in on a statewide steering committee for Senate Bill 1298, which is setting the structure for California’s autonomous vehicle testing and deployment rules that will be released by the end of this year. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) participates in these meetings along with state agencies: California State Transportation Agency, Department of Insurance, California Highway Patrol, Office of Traffic Safety, California Department of Transportation, and the Department of Motor Vehicles.

NHTSA is years away from releasing federal regulations, but last year it did release guidelines with five levels for defining each type of autonomous vehicle; Level 0 is no automation; Level 1 is function- specific automation (typical of what we’re using right now in vehicles, such as cruise control); Level 2 is combined function automation; this level involves automation of at least two primary control functions operating in unison, such as adaptive cruise control in combination with lane centering. Level 3 is limited self-driving automation, which says that the vehicle can operate by itself in most situations – the driver may need to take over the car when approaching a construction zone, for example. Level 4 covers full self-driving automation. In Level 4, the vehicle is designed to perform all safety-critical driving functions and monitor roadway conditions for an entire trip. Most of California’s regulations cover Level 3 and Level 4, Soriano said.

As part of California’s SB 1298, the manufacturer testing standards were approved by the legislature in May and go into effect in September. The state has committed to passing through the second part by the end of this year covering deployment of the vehicles to owners, and rules for operating the vehicles on roads.

When a company tests an autonomous vehicle, they’re usually trying out LiDAR sensors mounted on the car’s roof, radar, cameras, and GPS. Mason said that the advanced sensors that autonomous vehicles require are currently pretty expensive. It’s not yet known how much a driverless car will cost in the future; while a recent JD Power and Associates study found that consumers are willing to pay about $3,000 more for this new technology, it’s likely to cost them more.

Bernard said that one issue being followed is how autonomous vehicles can bring mobility back to people who’ve lost use of their vehicle due to factors such as disabilities. Another advantage of driverless cars, as vividly presented during an Audi commercial, is a self-parking system. You can step out of your car and it will find a space and park itself; when you’re ready to leave, you pull out your smartphone and call the car to come and pick you up. People in the audience seemed to really like that perk.

There should have been one more chair on that stage. The fourth pillar could have been represented by an executive from a technology supplier such as Google, Continental, or Bosch. Google is playing the leading role on moving driverless cars forward, but Continental, Bosch, and other technology giants and Tier 1 suppliers have been quite active in testing projects in the US and Europe.

GM EV1 on display at Petersen museum – one of the few still out there

The closest I’ve ever come to a General Motors EV1 was while walking through an exhibit at Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles on Saturday. It was part of the Alternative Power: Lessons from the Past, Inspiration for the Future display, and it showed a 1996 EV1 that somehow looked very familiar to me.

The car’s display board reads as follows: “The EV1 was the first modern production electric vehicle from a major manufacturer and was designed from the ground up to be an electric car. Only select dealers in California and Arizona were chosen to lease and service the EV1 and this coupe was the first to be delivered to Orange County. Impressed by its lively performance and civilized amenities, EV1 enthusiast Kris Trexler took it on a trip from Los Angeles to Troy, Michigan soon after taking delivery. Though he had to carefully plan his numerous ‘re-fueling’ stops weeks in advance, Trexler was able to demonstrate the potential of electric power and introduce a large number of people to the rediscovered transportation technology.”

I had seen this electric car before – near the end of the movie, “Who Killed the Electric Car?” Former Saturn employee Chelsea Sexton was allowed to enter the Petersen Automotive Museum to see one of the few remaining EV1s. This one had been originally leased to Kris Trexler, and was donated by GM. Trexler, a Los Angeles-based TV and film editor, took a 3,275 mile road trip from May 12 to June 2, 1998. You can view his slideshow from the trip, which he called “Charge Across America.”

While there were 1,117 of these EV1s manufactured by GM, there are only about 40 of them left. “Who Killed the Electric Car?” was presented as a mystery story and finished up depicting GM as the villain. For reasons unexplained by the automaker in the film, GM took back the cars and crushed them. That took place soon after California relaxed its zero-emission vehicle sales mandate; GM and other automakers had introduced a limited number of EVs in the state and backed away from it after the state’s decision to relax the mandate.

The EV1 had been leased from about 1998 to 2003 through Saturn dealers, and had been loved by several of its lessors – including actors Tom Hanks and Danny DeVito. The two-seater was considered by some people to be the most sophisticated electric car ever built. As you can see from the photo taken at the Petersen museum display, it had a space-age look that stood out on roads. The EV1’s lead-acid battery was about four times as heavy as the lithium-ion battery pack used in the Chevrolet Volt. The EV1 had a driving range of 60 to 80 miles. EV fans had been building their own do-it-yourself original and conversion EVs since the 1960s. The EV1 represented a new era in EV history when major automakers like GM gave them a shot. That effort failed and it took about eight more years for GM to build another plug-in EV model – the Volt.

This Week’s Top 10: DOE offering $4.5M in Clean Cities funding, Tesla announces more price-competitive model

by Jon LeSage, editor and publisher, Green Auto Market

Here’s my take on the 10 most significant and interesting occurrences during the past week…….

The US Department of Energy is now offering $4.5 million more in funding for alternative fuel vehicles through Clean Cities. The goal is to increase consumer outreach, training, and strategic planning; technologies and fuels include plug-in electric, natural gas, propane autogas, and flex-fuel vehicles. Concept papers to apply for funding are due the beginning of next month, Aug. 1, 2014. Areas of focus are on-the-road demonstrations, safety-related training, and emergency preparedness. Read more about the announcement and find the link to apply for funding here.
A long-awaited announcement came out last week on a more price-competitive model from Tesla Motors. Starting in 2017, Tesla’s Model III car will be introduced with a starting price of $35,000. That model will follow the upcoming Model X crossover and is thought to compete directly with the BMW 3 Series. It will be the first time Tesla enters the market somewhere between the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf in starting prices. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said it will get 200 miles on a full charge, and will be about the same size as the BMW 3 Series.
The US Environmental Protection Agency may be rethinking fuel economy ratings. Automakers may have to road test their vehicles to verify mileage claims posted on window stickers, according to a proposal being considered by the EPA. The EPA is requesting more accurate information in the wake of Ford, Hyundai, and Kia overstating fuel efficiency on some of its models. “Some automakers already do this, but we are establishing a regulatory requirement for all automakers,” Chris Grundler, director of the EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality, told The Wall Street Journal.
Google Earth Outreach is working with Environmental Defense Fund to map out natural gas leaks under the streets of Boston, Indianapolis, and New York City’s Staten Island. Google is providing cars and drivers traveling streets to measure leaking natural gas, which is mostly methane, through its Google Street View mapping; along with sensing and analytical technologies to measure environmental indicators. Two years ago, the California Air Resources Board launched a mapping tool using Google Earth that allows users to locate major sources of greenhouse gases and examine the emissions of each facility. Along with Street View and driverless car technology, another recent move by Google was a $500 million acquisition of Skybox Imaging in June. Skybox Imaging provides commercial high-resolution satellite imagery, high-definition video, and analytics services. It will be interesting to see where Google is going with telematics, mapping, and autonomous vehicle technologies.
Level 2 charging will grow 14-fold by 2020, says research by GlobalData. The market could grow from $67 million in revenue this year to $947 million by 2020. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has provided attractive incentives for electric vehicle (EV) charging stations installations, according to the study.
LG Chem is working on second-generation batteries for electric vehicles that can travel more than 200 miles per charge when it comes out in 2016. The battery maker, based in South Korea, currently supplies batteries for General Motors, Renault SA, and other automakers.
The Government Car Service in the UK is considering a few Tesla Model S deliveries to transport officials. The government has dedicated 5 million pounds ($8.6 million) for the program designed to buy more than 150 ultra-low emission vehicles.
Volvo is setting up a global partnership with ABB to co-develop and commercialize electric and hybrid buses along with fast charging systems. Their first project will be the implementation of Volvo electric hybrid buses and ABB’s automatic e-bus chargers in the Luxembourg public transport system; 12 Volvo Electric Hybrid buses will be running on existing lines by 2015.
Tesla Motors offered a $10,000 prize at a hackers conference for any one of them that could hack into a Model S. Chinese hackers at the SyScan360 conference in Beijing say they’ve found a vulnerable entry point. A post on the social network Weibo said that the IT department from Chinese company Qihoo 360 Technology Co had been able to take control of the car’s door locks, horn, headlights and sunroof. Tesla Motors has promised to fix any “legitimate vulnerability” to the Model S.
Student Transportation Inc.’s 435 school buses operating in Nebraska’s Millard and Omaha public school district were able to gain cost saving of $5,000 per day switching over to propane autogas. That data comes from a one-year test program. The buses travel between 100 to 150 miles per day for an average of about 50,000 miles each year, as was learned during the one-year test program; that equates to about 4.2 million fewer pounds of carbon dioxide being released after switching over to propane.

Green Vehicle Marketing: Logic is one thing, but feelings and personal viewpoints are more important

The smartest way to increase sales and market share for electric and other green vehicles is proving that they can deliver three benefits: being cost effective; convenient for the user’s lifestyle; and reducing emissions along with petroleum dependence. Just take a look at websites and ad campaigns on Youtube for the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt, Tesla Model S, and other models. Those making the vehicle acquisition decision must be convinced on all three levels – but sometimes it’s not enough to nudge the purchasing decision.

The question always comes up: What’s the best way to make the case that buying a green vehicle instead of a fuel efficient gasoline-engine model is the best way go? As several marketing experts have stated, logical reasons for making the purchase decisions will ride in the backseat. The emotional, personal decision will drive the decision; and that’s the case for personal, business, and fleet vehicle acquisitions. Personal opinions and viewpoints will vary.

Here are two examples from recent discussions…………

One colleague thinks clean transportation is an honorable cause. He believes the debate over whether climate change is for real is meaningless; air pollution is certainly a problem, he said. He thinks of himself as being a good steward for future generations. He’s a fly fisherman and practices conservation tactics, and gets very frustrated with irresponsible fishermen. Two topics that he’s very interested in, and passionate about, are genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and healthy foods. Monsanto, Bayer, and DuPont are being irresponsible pushing for GMOs. McDonald’s and Nestles should be boycotted. “Look at where the subsidies go,” he said. “Agricultural subsidies are based on junk food.”
An environmental group leader that I know is proud to drive a Tesla Model S, has native plants in her front yard that need little water, and believes it’s important for government and industry to take environmental issues seriously. She’s very concerned about the harmful effects of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) for natural gas and its impact on the environment. On the other hand, she thinks that natural gas vehicles utilized in a fleet is a very good, clean way to go.

Both of these people were passionate in sharing their opinions on sustainability issues, though their assumptions have been different. Diversity in opinions on environmental and sustainability issues is another marketing theme that needs to be addressed. For example, while speaking out against GMOs (and Monsanto) is top priority for a lot of people, for others it’s not a concern – or for them it’s so pervasive in most of the food we buy at grocery stores that you’d have to go to extremes to avoid GMOs, such as growing all your own food or only buying organic foods.

Other Americans will prioritize the Keystone XL pipeline as the leading issue, and for others fracking must be stopped. Consumers most concerned about climate change generally have strong opinions on some or all of these issues. For other consumers in the US, environmentalists are seen as being extreme and too far to the left; they may value conservation, clean air, and job creation, but don’t support an all-encompassing paradigm such as climate change.

Authenticity and social responsibility seems to be valued by most consumers. As covered recently by experts during a GreenBiz webinar, transparent, honest, and accurate reporting is being expected by consumers and in the business-to-business (B2B) environment. As panelists discussed during “Understanding the B2B Green Marketing Landscape,” B2B companies are especially demanding – requesting unprecedented amounts of information about products’ environmental and health attributes. Sustainability is one of the top values influencing opinions by individuals and businesses (according to several studies in the past five years), and it’s been tied firmly to ethics and social responsibility.

The point being made here is that frequently-asked questions about alternative fuel vehicles need to be addressed by salespeople and through educational materials. It’s probably a good idea to take a broad viewpoint on sustainability and environmental issues when marketing these vehicles.

It’s even more important to offer a hands-on, emotional experience to vehicle shoppers. That’s likely to come to them while test driving the vehicles, having conversations with experienced owners of these vehicles, and connecting the vehicles to environmental and economic issues that they’re passionate about. If buying and driving an EV, hybrid, or other alt-fuel vehicle brings feelings of community service, fulfillment, and practical gains, a lot more of these vehicles will be sold.

Robotics and autonomous vehicles raise fear factor in more jobs going away

If you’ve spoken lately with students and 20-something Millennials, or with their parents, you may have heard about their interest in robotics for career opportunities – in engineering, management, public policy, computer sciences, and academics, among other fields. For those interested in finding out about the 10 best American universities to attend for education in artificial intelligence and robotics, check out this Business Insider article.

Career opportunities and realities are changing and will continue to do so for young people – and for older people from the Baby Boomer and GenX generations. Robotics is being introduced in several industries now, with the US Dept. of Defense (DOD) leading the way. Armed drones have been flying over Iraq lately to protect US military personnel assisting Iraqi forces from the unexpected uprising; unmanned ground vehicles continue to be tested as well. Lessons learned by the DOD eventually disseminate onto university and government research labs; there’s a growing demand for workers who can act as service technicians for robotics, along with those trained in designing and managing the next generation of robotic technologies.

Automotive executives from Nissan and a few competitors attended the Automated Vehicles Symposium last week; Nissan reiterated a bold statement – it will be the first automaker to roll out an autonomous vehicle by 2020. Daimler AG chief executive Dieter Zetsche said his company will have more to say about the next steps “in the not-too-distant future.” While it will take a few years longer than 2020 for autonomous vehicles to spread across US highways, the implications are huge for people making their living driving a car.

While speaking this spring at an economic think tank hosted by the American Enterprise Institute, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates said that within 20 years, a lot of jobs will go away and will be replaced by software automation (“bots”). “Software substitution, whether it’s for drivers or waiters or nurses … it’s progressing. … Technology over time will reduce demand for jobs, particularly at the lower end of skill set,” Gates said.

Auto assembly plants will see jobs go away as robotics take their place. Last year, BMW took a step in that direction with a handful of robots working side-by-side with human workers at its Spartanburg, SC, plant. For those employed as drivers – such as taxi and limo drivers, shuttle services, and commercial trucks – robotics and autonomous vehicles will mean job loss.

As for today, growth in ridesharing is pushing fear factor buttons. As Uber, Lyft, Sidecar, and other companies make ridesharing services booked on mobile devices easier and more plentiful, taxi and chauffeured transportation drivers are starting to feel the pinch. Ridesharing and carsharing are starting to change the business model for transportation companies and automakers. Intelligent transportation systems, connected cars, and autonomous vehicles are in the works. As Bill Ford, executive chairman at Ford Motor Co., says, there’s a radical shift taking place over the next 20 years: automakers will become personal-mobility companies.

The fast-changing work environment presents challenges and opportunities for everyone. Robotics is one of several technologies impacting job retention and creation, but I think there are several other factors to continue monitoring and preparing for…….

Next-generation lithium batteries used for electric vehicles and consumer electronics. Tesla Motors is moving forward on an ambitious lithium battery factory subsidiary, and several other major automakers are investing heavily on battery R&D.
Mobile devices on smartphones and tablets – people around the world are becoming more dependent on their mobile devices all the time and expect more applications to be delivered. Android Auto is a good example of major technology companies like Google partnering with automakers.
Ridesharing and carsharing services are in their early phases but seem to be finding a lot of users in Europe and the US, with other markets like India starting to show interest; automakers and car rental companies know this very well and are getting into the business.
Robotics and artificial intelligence need a trained workforce – for autonomous vehicles, factory production, testing labs, cargo container management, and many other applications. As high school and college students and workers are discovering, it does make a great deal of sense to prepare for the future and gain job skills in advanced technologies.